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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29560392">Cherry flavoured conversations</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Chinese Actor RPF, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Bars and Pubs, Hints of sexual content, M/M, No beta we die like wwx, Poverty, Song : Cherry Flavoured conversations by The Neighborhood, Toxic Family Dynamics, lsfy - Freeform, yibo is a big tease, yibo works a sus job in a sus bar, zswwlsfyweek</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:34:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,613</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29560392</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Xiao Zhan meets him on the worst and every time the man disappears leaving a painful tingling sensation in his heart. </p><p>He wants to continue Cherry flavoured conversations with Yibo.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Wang Yi Bo/Xiao Zhan | Sean</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>ZSWW/LSFY Week 2021</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cherry flavoured conversations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Warnings before you read! </p><p>- drugs and alcohol consumption is mentioned.<br/>- parental neglect/abuse is mentioned.<br/>- some fights</p><p>It's not a very descriptive but it's still there just in case you feel uncomfortable you can choose not to read!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"Not you again" He sighs and places his hand on the desk, cheeks puffing and eyes closing, eyebrows furrowed and nose scrunched as he looks at the boy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why, I thought you like me </span>
  <em>
    <span>Zhan-ge</span>
  </em>
  <span>?" The teasing voice is so annoying and so addictive. Xiao Zhan wants nothing more than to slap his face and then pull him close by the collar to press their lips together, so infuriating. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wang Yibo, his latest headache and oh god the worst student he could be assigned for tutoring. He never studies a bit with him and it feels like teaching something to a wall (he's also sure that spending efforts on a wall would yield better results than on this junior.) "Please don't tell me you failed your test again." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yibo just shrugs, sitting down uninvitedly on the seat like he owns the area and then places his pretty but so annoying face in his hands, elbows supporting it up and tilts his head up at him, "I didn't fail Zhan-ge, but Mr Qian isn't happy with a C." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lies. C grade isn't something Xiao Zhan would be assigned tutoring for, he's only stuck with students who are either too dumb to take subjects they can't understand or those who don't want to study. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yibo perfectly falls in between. He doesn't know why the male acts the way he does, sometimes the Junior is great at solving questions and it feels like he doesn't even need anyone to teach him and sometimes he will ask the same topic seventeen times. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sometimes he doesn't look at the book and is in other worldly places, just like today and he snaps his fingers in front of the boy's face, "stop staring into space Yibo!" He huffs but the junior keeps smiling, "I wasn't staring into space, Xiao Zhan, I was staring at you!" That earns him a glare and Yibo is very well amused. He doesn't bother arguing further and just requests him to look at the book and fortunately the boy listens. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's always hard dealing with Yibo, he's way too comfortable with him for his own good. Even though he doesn't speak a lot, he's annoying enough with the amount of words he uses and Xiao Zhan prays to the Lords above that he can get done with Yibo soon enough and another student who's preferably more eager to leave the session as well would be assigned to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whatever the reason is, he's obliged to help and therefore everyday after his classes end they stay at the library for two more hours where he assigns him work, helps in what he doesn't understand while he completes his homework side by side. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It isn't that difficult honestly, except his terrible flirting, Yibo is a quiet kid and has a calm nature. He's silent on a good amount of days and never shouts or fights back; sometimes it's hard to even have a "en" out of the boy's mouth like he pledged for some kind of silent pact. Not that Xiao Zhan minds, it's better this way and he can get done with his studies faster. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There isn't much, but for tutoring his juniors and classmates every two hours, the school paid him and some other few kids with the straight A grades. As annoyed as he is of teaching kids that zone out on him, he takes it seriously since the little money matters to him a lot. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their neighbourhood isn't the richest, heck it's not rich at all. There's either people with fancy cars or those who are scraping life out and hoping for better and the few middle class-men who just hang around somewhere in between, too scared to be stuck in either situation. Naturally, the school's crowd isn't rich either. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiao Zhan isn't the one with the worst conditions, he knows about some students who have holes in their House's ceiling or those who don't even have a house to begin with and live in shared rented apartments near clubs. He's seen the worst of life, knows how the world works and takes the opportunities given to him. Not the best at it, he recognizes that and respects kids who work harder than him to get out of this lifestyle and be some place better.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone isn't the same though, some of them just work to not go in lower conditions and some work just to rise a level up. Kids can't be judged around here, raised in life situations the outside world only feels bad for on a few internet posts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>'</span>
  <em>
    <span>Just work hard to get out.</span>
  </em>
  <span>' Easier said than done, he agrees a lot of them don't even try to be at some place better but he understands them. Understands the hopelessness under the careless mask. He understands the hell-hole houses of these kids and the physical and emotional pain they're supposed to drink down without a word. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, to be born in a first world country, he thinks sometimes. Life wouldn't be perfect but it would be better than this. Then again, he shouldn't complain because people around him are living the same life and kids who were born in Western countries didn't do anything bad to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's so stupid, no one would even agree with him but he would trade half of his lifetime for being born a middle class westerner. The things he has seen growing up, the experiences he grew out of would always stay in his head. He pulls out his phone to text his internet friend, Rose who lives in the UK, an alias she uses and reads about her day. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>On good days, he feels bad for how her parents don't give her attention and have basically left a fourteen year old to deal with her severe anxiety because he knows how it feels to have everything pushed inside him. He's seen it, at 14, kids drown in alcohol to mirror their parents, forget the pain they feel even if it's momentarily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>On bad days he feels jealous of her, angry and wants to say something mean. He wants to tell her how privileged she is and that if she hates where she lives so much, they could swap lives and then she'd know what struggle is. But at the end of the day, Rose isn't the reason he's here, neither does she contribute to his stressful schedule. If anything, the poor kid probably texts him because she wants to tell someone about it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So he sends her supportive messages and tells her only a good part of his life. That his mother loves him and he has friends he goes out with. His good grades and once every three months the good meal he gets to eat. If she thinks he's living a better life than her, then it's fine until she's feeling good enough to share with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn't talk too much, either always too tired and falling asleep or his shift at work calling. She doesn't bother him a lot too, probably understands he's busy and can't talk all day. But it's nice to see her ask about his day from time to time even if he turns the topic around. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In all, the internet connection he gets is limited and he can't spend the whole time wasting it on his device. He's a good student, not extremely hardworking he admits but enough to keep a good grade. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's also because he's lucky enough to have decent parents. Well, parent. He's never seen his father and his mother never wants to talk about him so he doesn't bother to think about the man. He didn't raise him in the slightest bit anyway so the label of 'father' is just a fraud. His mother is enough, she's nice and supportive. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They have their days and even though now she doesn't hit him at all (mostly because he's too old for that) they fight from time to time. Nothing out of ordinary he thinks, it'd be weird to have all smooth days. Unlike other parents he knows in his neighborhood, varying heavily on being absolute suckers she's decent. A good mother in fact. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He has friends and neighbors with parents that are worse to have than not having whether you count the drunkards, the drug addicts or the actively physically abusers and money snatchers, worst of all gamblers. He's lucky to not have a parent like that and wonders what sort of hell he'd be under if that was his case. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiao Zhan's mother isn't a sweet angel and from time to time he feels like questioning the woman why she can't make enough money to keep the house bills and debt. Why she never has the money she earns and he has to take extra shifts all the time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn't want to be ungrateful for the fact that she lets him attend school (it's free but still,) and doesn't pester him about his life. Xiao Zhan cares enough for her to choose starving rather than letting her starve. She never offered him any food of her share that he used to half wait for when he was younger. She just says thank you and eats her part, his stomach rumbling and he locks his room to shut himself inside pulling out a book to distract himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Respecting parents is a major part of China's society. That might be why so many of his friends are still dealing with their parents he's not sure he would've handled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He packs up his uniform like always and leaves the street shop, heading to his home with the daily wage in his hand. Out of the corner of his eye he sees a boy being thrown on the ground by two men and ignores it, nothing new with the scene and as heartless as he'd be claimed, he's seen worse. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Living in these packed up small colonies with stinking smells and cigarette smoke made people immune to feeling sympathy at some point. Everything is bad, everyone is suffering, why would one random case make him bat an eyelash towards it? He's pretty sure no one had helped him either when he got jumped by a bunch of teenagers who took his money and then beat him up, later getting thrown out of his house because his mother didn't believe him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Go away!" He hears and then stops dead on his track. Is that.. Wang Yibo? He turns his head around and walks back, hesitant steps pushing him forward and by the time he reaches the corner he sees the head ducked, shirt torn a bit and Yibo looks up at him with a bruised cheek, busted lip and cuts on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He bends down and places a hand on his junior's shoulder inspecting his situation. "Leave." He hears and then eyes widen, </span>
  <em>
    <span>did he stumble on the wrong street? </span>
  </em>
  <span>He thinks and then looks at the boy again, it could be, the other neighborhood is on a third turn and it could be he got confused. Xiao Zhan tries to lift Yibo up, if anything he can at least help the boy to his home and they can treat him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Leave!" This time the older male steps back, surprised by the loud voice. He's pretty sure he's never heard the junior speak in this volume and it startles him, his big eyes widened more like buttons on his face and his lips open and close trying to form a sentence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yibo you're—"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I said leave!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So he does. Xiao Zhan walks away from the bloodied Yibo with bruises all around him and walks to his own house, greeting an empty house. She's not here yet. He sighs and keeps the money on the table, taking a few notes out like always and fishing them in his pocket. He heats up the stove and keeps an extra in the utensil. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's too hard to study today, ten minutes into the book he loses focus and curses inwardly, his concentration today is worse than an elementary kid. There's still a thought of Yibo at the back of his head and he gets up from where he's sitting, takes the keys and goes to the street again to find him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Is he still there? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>It's empty and silent, a few alcohol bottles making a 'clink' sound in the air as they connect and a very few people are left outside. He goes to the corner, this time rushed footsteps and looks at the spot where the Junior previously was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's gone, not a sign of him around and Xiao Zhan walks back in the cold thinking he probably got picked up by his parents, that must surely be it. A hand wraps around his elbow and he turns his head to see a woman dressed in a cheap short shimmery dress. A prostitute, he guesses, she's trying her luck on the wrong person. "Hey handsome, wanna take me home?" Her sweet voice drips in the air and he slowly slides his hand away from her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The one I came to take home wasn't here, I'm sorry." With that he leaves the place. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>For the next two days he doesn't see Yibo. It's easier for him this way, he gets paid no matter if the student attends or not and he can do his homework there as well. If it was a normal schedule, he wouldn't have given it much thought and just spent his time studying in the free luxury he was being provided but his junior's bruised face keeps popping up in his mind and he can't focus. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After 3 more days, he asks the teacher and his classmates and Yibo hasn't come to the school itself in a week. It pulls a weird string in his chest but he forces himself to not panic. He's a middle class boy, it'll be okay, he's probably resting after he got jumped for whatever reason. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Except he can't calm down. At work he zones out and then he burns the rice a bit while cooking, hears plenty of scolding at both places and eventually goes back to his normal life. He tells Rose about it, how he can't stop thinking about Yibo like the boy has plastered on his mind, extreme worry is taking over him and he just wants to listen from him again even if it's some annoying flirty lines again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rose says he likes his junior and Xiao Zhan might've been meaner to her than necessary. <em>He's not gay</em>, he knows that. He surely had never been interested in men and it's weird to even keep that thought but she says it's okay to like men. It makes him angry and he doesn't reply to her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The fourteen year old kid doesn't know what she's saying. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five months pass and when he asks again, he gets to know Yibo has left the school. Left? It's weird to hear that, most of them continue schooling till the very end after they enroll in high school. Middle class boys like the junior especially aren't who you hear dropping out of school. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He ponders over it for a while but leaves the thought aside. Maybe he just went to a better school? He doesn't know, even though he wants to and oh, it's embarrassing how much he's missed Yibo even though all he wanted to do was escape him in the start. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's no one to pester him anymore and no one to say things that will earn a scolding from Xiao Zhan. No one stares at his face now and then excuses it with, "you're too handsome to not look at" and no one is whining about, "gege, I swear just </span>
  <em>
    <span>one </span>
  </em>
  <span>more time you need to explain this. I'll be attentive and I'll understand it, please." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His life is bland again, going to school, straight to work, back at home, making dinner and then studying till the light stays then heading back to bed. Waking up and the same cycle repeats. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After he's passed the sophomore year and senior year, he has some time deciding if he wants to go to college or not and in this time, a few friends decide to go to a club on the weekend and he tries to decline the offer, spending money on these things is like setting it on fire but after they convince him with a deal of buying the first two round of drinks for him, he agrees. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His mother doesn't come home and he never gets to tell her, he's old enough now though so there's no need to tell her. He places the money on the table again, taking the notes like always and puts on a jacket, combs his hair once then ruffling them up a bit and heads out with his phone tucked in his jeans. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's not entirely sure if the club allows eighteen year olds in the place but there's no one to check their age and as soon as one of his friends gives the entrance fee, they don't bother to see how old, where they came from or what they came for. It's not the safest since any younger kid would be easily breaking in here but anyone above fifteen is considered old </span>
  <em>
    <span>enough, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and kids below that are easy to recognize. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not like he's the moral police, he's pretty sure whoever has enough maturity to bring money can also have it to enter and stay safe. The music is loud but it's nothing surprising since it could be heard from a good distance from the club as well. It's not </span>
  <em>
    <span>his </span>
  </em>
  <span>ideal way to spend a weekend but the place is lively, there's enough alcohol and a lot of pretty girls so he can understand the appeal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After the initial two shots, he doesn't drink more because he can feel his head become dizzy. As embarrassing as it was, his alcohol tolerance had been like a baby and since he doesn't drink more than half a bottle </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever. </span>
  </em>
  <span>This is generally where he ends his case and would've done so if he wasn't dragged back to the bar by his friends and another two went into his system. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fortunately he hasn't paid a lot for now, besides the entrance fee he didn't make any purchases and wasn't gone enough to call one of the girls over and spend the rest of his pocket on them. He squints his eyes at the stage and sees a young skinny male dancing sexually on the stage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sees a glimpse of his face and frowns. "Hey.. isn't that, what was his name again..?" He points and his friend is in a better condition to recognize. "That junior you tutored. I don't know his name but yeah that's him." Xiao Zhan nods in his drunk state. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's too hard to form rational thoughts and he feels his body is suddenly too heavy to pick up and move so he stumbles off the creaking couch and goes outside of the back door as the boy's dance ends. He follows behind as the junior is exiting the place with a cigarette in his hand and grabs his wrist, stopping the fast paced track. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ouch. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>A punch lands on his face and he stumbles back mumbling curses, falling down eventually because of how drunk he is. "Xiao Zhan?!" He hears and doesn't reply, holding his face with his hands where he got punched. "Fuck, it's you. I'm so sorry I thought you.. you were.." He waves a hand. "It's fine.. I'm sorry for suddenly.. " He doesn't finish the sentence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are you drunk?" He sulks on the street instead of replying. The boy picks him up, not literally but supporting him up and leads him to some place, rest, he isn't awake to remember. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wakes up with a killing headache and Yibo hands him a pill with a glass of water as he helps him sit up on whatever the hell he is. "Thank you." He mutters and swallows it down then looks up at the younger man who starts smiling. "Oh Xiao Zhan, you can be way too cute sometimes." He blushes at the comment and coughs a bit to hide the embarrassment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You brought me here?" He asks, the question isn't the literal meaning but a 'why' and Yibo seems to pick it up. "I would've left you on the street, you were pouting at me and sulking and it was way too hard for me to let you stay there Xiao Zhan." There's a smile tugged on those plush lips and it makes him curl up in himself a little more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He bites his lip. "Thank you.. for not leaving me there." In return, only a nod comes and then the boy is out of the door in a second and he feels a little scared. Not of Yibo, but being in an unfamiliar surrounding and not knowing what he should be doing. He figures out it's his time to leave and he climbs out of the bed, right as he opens the door, Yibo enters with two bowls in his hand and they're a few centimeters away because of them, if he had rushed he would probably topel the boy over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, you're better.. I guess you don't need this then." He turns around but Xiao Zhan immediately holds him back. "I do!" He shouts and Yibo startles by the loud voice, stumbling a little and he immediately feels sorry. "I mean.. I do need it. If you don't mind of course." He sees a hint of smirk on the younger and follows out to the open kitchen. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiao Zhan eats without a word and Yibo sits beside him on the small table. "You're so quiet, it tastes bad right." He immediately shakes his head and looks at him with wide eyes, Yibo laughs at him and he flushes again. "It's good. Very good, thank you for making it." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's a shuffling of plates beside him and one cold hand is placed on his own. "You can say it tastes bad, I know what I cook like. I don't take offence." Xiao Zhan looks at him with a 'really?' expression and he gulps. "Well, it tastes bad. I can only feel the salt in this, honestly I'm not sure how I'm eating it." He speaks a little too much and winces immediately but hears a heavy laugh and Yibo's lips are stretched wide making a heart shape (had they always been this way?) as he throws his head back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiao Zhan looks scared now, shoulders hunched and nervous fingers hardly holding his chopsticks right. "Oh please, I've heard worse don't worry it was really funny. Stop looking like a cute little rabbit or I'll eat you alive." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's not sure which way he should take that sentence so he just keeps quiet with a small smile on his face. He looks at Yibo and their eyes meet, for a second he sees the same sixteen year old boy a year back who used to be a gremlin but with a blink the image melts down and now it's a fancy dressed man with sparkling earrings and fading red lipstick, brown hair falling into his eyes and over his collar. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's been a year, yet it feels like Yibo has aged five times more than the given time and he looks </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>mature, not from the face but the aura and his words unlike the compliments-fishing boy he was. "Yibo.." He starts and his throat is dry, head feeling too airy to form thoughts and the said man walks closer, closer and </span>
  <em>
    <span>closer. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He can see up this close that there are marks on his face hidden by a poor concealer and powder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His hands go up to Xiao Zhan's face and he feels his breath hitch until another laughter rumbles into the air like cotton candy and looks at Yibo. "Please stop looking like a cute bunny Xiao Zhan. I thought you'd mature up and I would be able to move on with how much you resemble a rabbit but it feels like you might be one as well." Usually he wouldn't like to hear something like this but Yibo's deep voice dips into his ears like melody and he doesn't want to stop him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Think I can keep you as a pet?" At that he forces a sound out of his throat and the younger is laughing yet again. His own lips tug up at that and he shakes his head for suddenly becoming this weak, just for this boy. He doesn't understand </span>
  <em>
    <span>why. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Maybe he doesn't want to either and they go out, never really saying they're going together but it feels like their steps pace together in the same direction and he really doesn't want to leave the junior's company. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They sit on the terrace of the abandoned factory and he accepts the cigarette offered to him, leaning close enough for Yibo to light it up as the boy smokes from the one in his own mouth as well. "Do you ever want to set those buildings on fire?" He asks and Xiao Zhan looks where he refers to, the tall shiny center of the city standing far from where they were. His lips tug up and he nods. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I thought I was the only one who wanted to do that." He blows out a puff and then looks down, legs dangling down from the railing they're sitting on and closes his eyes. "Yibo?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A hum follows and he takes it as his cue to continue. "Do you ever want to run away from life? I don't want to leave my mother but at the same time I wish I could change what I am and leave." He feels a body press against his and the younger's head is on his shoulder, hair tickling his neck. "Yes. I did that once already, felt nice." Xiao Zhan nods even though he doesn't know what he's talking about. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They smoke their cigarettes out, the wind is mildly cold fighting the warm weather and he feels relaxed. Feels a lot better than he has in a long time. He's not sure if it's the calming presence by his side with the pleasant weather for once or the cigarette is showing its effect on him. He tells Yibo about the one time his mother got to know he doesn't give her the entire money he earns and she threw him out. In return Yibo frowns, 'you have a shitty mother, old lady should work on her legs if she has enough strength to throw her adult son out.' </span>
</p><p>He feels a lump in his throat, his mother isn't bad, right? She's temperamental and has her selfish times but she's usually nice. Xiao Zhan doesn't comment on it, doesn't fight it back but doesn't agree either and Yibo seems to understand that somehow. </p><p>
  <span>After their half cuddling session they start talking again, theories of the life they lead and all the frustration for everyone richer than them. He laughs as Yibo says they should marry lonely rich men in Germany and then kill them later, get rid of the bodies and then spend a good life. Xiao Zhan humors the male and says they should look for </span>
  <em>
    <span>both </span>
  </em>
  <span>old men and women, it'll be easier to kill an old lady. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Gege, oh gege you're so endearing. You really don't change." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But you did."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Silence falls into the previously sweet environment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I did, indeed."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiao Zhan isn't sure why he did that, why he ruined the good moment for them and now he's at his street. Maybe Yibo will hate him forever for this and because he's so nosy he won't see the boy again. He looks at the younger again and his heart melts like always. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He waves and is too cowardly to stop him, ask when they can meet again or ask for his number. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yibo walks away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiao Zhan never sees him again in the club or the street. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>As he pushes his way out of the empty street and stands in front of his own apartment, he sighs, shoulders dropped in tiredness washing over him. He doesn't want to go home, it's too hard to, right now and so he texts his mother that she won't be seeing him tonight because of work. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's a teacher and never has his work required staying behind this late but his mother doesn't even know what he does that well and she doesn't care frankly, even if he comes a day or two after which he is thankful for. He turns around and goes back to the familiar street, where he lived for almost all his life and back into the apartment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There are cobwebs and dust but it's fine, not too bad. The balcony is pretty much the same, still on the verge of falling down but somehow holding up even after all these years and he looks down, a new kid being thrown out for some reason no one's bothered about to know, new bunch of teenagers and some old faces who pretend not to see him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's had a weird life, all this time he thought that once money came into his life, he would move on from every negative thought and clouded dreams but it didn't work. People around him seemed to change, grow up and okay the gamble of life, losing and winning but he felt stuck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stuck in one place and not being able to get out of the weird cycle of this life. He's not happy, he doesn't do anything more than his job and honestly doesn't know what his mother does with the salary he gives her. Maybe out of habit or some thought at the back of his head, he still doesn't transfer the entire money to her and keeps some share in his account. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After enough investigations, he locks the house back and goes out. He never sold it, even if his mother wanted to, because it's still the place he wants to run back to for comfort. The city is easier, brighter, cleaner but it isn't what he was brought up in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>People might want to run away from this past but he wants to stay in it from time to time. He wants to relive the years back again, this time, he wants to hold back Yibo and trap him in this place with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's walking out of the club with a beer bottle in his hand, not completely drunk but still stumbling a bit. He bumps into a man and is held up by the collar, the other being far shorter but Xiao Zhan isn't in the state to fight anyone. He expects a shove or a punch but he's freed out of the grip, a painful groan is heard. "Why do we always meet when you're drunk Xiao Zhan?" He hears. Yibo. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blurry vision gives him an image of a man crouching on the ground in pain and Yibo hovering over him, helping him up and then leading him somewhere. Just like before, he's not awake to remember what happens for the rest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This time he wakes up in the dark itself, a warm body is beside him and he turns to see the long pale neck right at his eye level. The shifting makes some noise and it wakes the man up, Xiao Zhan is too surprised to move even if his eyes are wide open. "You're up way too early." He hears and then Yibo is out of the bed, going outside and fetching a pill. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hears a giggle, a muffled whine and then some bumping. There's another person besides them, he figures and the young male is beside him after a few minutes with a pill in his hand and a glass of water in the other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's like deja vu, he's back to when he was eighteen again and now they're meeting after a whole year. He's just done with his school and Yibo freshly dropped out of it. "Thank you." He says, just like before and swallows it. "It's nothing, but you need to stop getting drunk to meet me. You should've called me if you were that desperate." It's obviously a joke, but its an unintentional truth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I never got your number."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You didn't, indeed."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's another drop of silence in between them, it's been five years since Xiao Zhan last saw him and he's aged well, like a fine wine. A sharper jaw resides but it's still the same face, bright eyes and plump lips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time his face has less marks, there are some old ones but nothing brightly sporting on the otherwise clear skin, he looks more mature now, stern gaze and firmer body language. He's also very beautiful, has he always been like this? He wonders. After all, he did think Yibo was cute. Not like this though, not this way of taking in his features and feeling his heart pick up the pace. Xiao Zhan doesn't know what to say again, he has so many things to ask but nothing to say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yibo? Everything okay there?" The lithe man turns his head to the door and answers with a 'yes' then back to Xiao Zhan. His eyes ask the question, Yibo catches it and tilts his head a little. "I have a german sugar daddy now." Xiao Zhan chokes on the water he's drinking and starts coughing violently. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hears a 'oh my god' and then the warm hand is rubbing his back as he tries to catch his breath, keeping the glass aside. After a while Yibo pushes his hair behind his ear and checks his face, then smiles with a relieved sigh. "If I knew that was gonna happen I wouldn't have said so! Don't worry Xiao Zhan, I don't have a german sugar daddy. Well, he's not german at least." There's a mischievous wink and he shakes his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Is he your boyfriend?" He asks and then looks at Yibo. The thought had never occurred to him that Yibo could be interested in men. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hadn't been long enough to make the decision, but the young male never showed interest in women during the time in high school. Then again, he was just a kid, it was not surprising he never showed interest in anyone. Besides, whenever he asked about the junior having a crush he would just say Xiao Zhan and a push on the forehead would await, then they'd continue studying. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Is he? Do you not want him to be?" Yibo says with a sincere look, eyes burning holes into his skin until his face splits into a small smile. "He's not. We sleep around sometimes, a good friend you can say. He lets me have the guest room with a small rent." Xiao Zhan nods. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He really doesn't know Yibo at all. What happened to the boy, where he left, why he disappears every once in a while has no answer to it. He doesn't know if everything he assumed about the boy was right or not, he doesn't know if he's thinking too much either but it surely leads him to one thing. Yibo has the most mysterious background he's known. With a pull on his hand, he out of bed, following the male outside. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yibo picks up a small bag, takes out some envelopes of money and slams one down on the table. "Where you going?" The man, the apartment owner he assumes says and wraps arms around Yibo who pushes him away nonchalantly. "Out with him." There's a nod and the man passes him, giving a smile through his stoned face and they head out of the apartment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm sure you have a lot of questions."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I do."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You also know you won't get the answers to them."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I was hoping I would." Xiao Zhan says honestly and Yibo doesn't say anything more. "Where were you?" "Somewhere" "Why did you disappear suddenly?" "Was exploring." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He feels annoyed at the unsatisfying replies and hisses. "How can you be so careless? I didn't know middle class kids were raised like brats!" A fist comes to his face but he blocks it and then hits him back. He doesn't know why he's doing this, he doesn't want to fight Yibo. Yet they meet each other's fists and kicks and he pushes the younger hard to make him fall down. But his leg kicks at Xiao Zhan's knee and he falls as well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn't realize when he starts crying into it, body weight pinning Yibo down whose face is just as fallen. "I'm sorry." He says and then cries more. It's pathetic and he would feel better if Yibo had kicked him over, laughed at him and left. But he doesn't. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You can cry it out."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thank you." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He means it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe he's a fool but he doesn't ask where Yibo is taking him next, like a blind faith of a ring attached to him and they end up in a lonely street. "Where do you need to go?" He asks and Xiao Zhan shakes his head. "I don't know." That pulls a smile on the bleeding lip and he feels his heart tug. "I expected you to say something like back to home or your mom." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"She's shitty." "Told you." He laughs and then stares into his eyes. "You did. I wish I could escape you know? I thought once I get money I'd be happy. A better life, a home and everything." Xiao Zhan says with a sigh. "But even now that I have it, I don't like it one bit. All I want to do is escape. Just run away from this continuous loop I've got myself into." Yibo looks at him with an amused expression. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Come with me then."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Where?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't know."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Xiao Zhan laughs and pulls the smaller man close, pecks his forehead fondly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sounds like a plan."</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"I can't believe we're actually doing this." Yibo says with his lips between his lips and Xiao Zhan taps his chin to make him let go of them, blooming red. "Why don't you wanna go anymore? I already sent the resignation letter and pulled out my money so I'm taking this ride." The taller leans over the train window as the time ticks away, 12 more minutes. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"No way! I wouldn't have taken all my money and paid him if I wanted to stay. It's just.. not you. I didn't expect you to come along. You're just so.. you, Xiao Zhan, it's hard to believe you're here with me." Yibo entangles their hands as he says that and it makes the taller smile, bunny teeth on display and the coy smile appears on the shorter. "You promised to tell me everything about you on this, if I start to regret someday… I know a place we can go back to."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Yeah?"</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Yeah."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Yibo starts to go through the door and Xiao Zhan follows, they don't have luggage with them and he doesn't know how long their money is going to last but Yibo is there. Yibo will be there. It's going to be okay if he is with Xiao Zhan. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"I like our conversations."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"The ones about blowing up rich people's properties or the Germany settlement ones."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Xiao Zhan finds it hard to rest his face that's stretched into a smile. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"The cherry flavoured ones."</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I initially thought I should make this sickeningly long but that's annoying so I didn't. </p><p>Yibo's bg stays sus till the end and I'll never tell you what happened (jk, i was thinking of adding a work to this series where the focus is on him instead.) </p><p>I know I didn't address this at all but Xiao Zhan is asexual here. The rose girl is there as an ibf and the way she gets ghosted is so sad please. If any of you wanna talk about things like these you can text me I won't ghost you. ;((</p><p>Also they don't kiss at all and there's one forehead peck so you can consider this my version of Chinese censorship BUT Cherry flavoured conversation is actually a reference to his lips. Xiao Zhan means Yibo's lips taste like cherries and the conversation is them kissing AAA. If I end up working on another fic to this I will make sure they kiss in that one. TT</p><p>I have another fic in the fest as https://archiveofourown.org/works/29454723 if you like historic/royalty aus. </p><p>Thank you for reading!! Oh and I have a Twitter @etherxibo :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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